In the context of Covid19, which is severely undermining education and learning across the globe, the UNESCO OER Dynamic Coalition webinar on 29 July 2021 examined the sustainability of OER production, use and funding models.
Experts from all over the world shared crucial information and wide-ranging good practices regarding the sustainability of OER models. The various interventions focused on the funding and business models of OER; innovative and inspiring practices that are driving the evolution of sustainable OER; creation and catalyzing of models that would ensure that OER access is not shifted to individual educators and students.
Dr Tel Amiel, Professor at the School of Education, University of Brasilia, gave an overview of business and reciprocity models that ensure OER sustainability. Dr Amiel illustrated these models with examples of successful online structures in the entertainment industry, MOOCs and media: extra services and advertising provided by Lumen, Coursera and Open Spotify; subscription by Le Monde diplomatique and Donations (Open Stax); and recognition by Flickr and Wikipedia.
Dr Ahmed Tlili, Co-Director of the OER Lab at Smart Learning Institute of Beijing Normal University, presented a study co-authored with Daniel Burgos, Fabio Nascimbeni, Ting-Wen Chang, Ronghuai Huang and Xiangling Zhang (2020): The evolution of sustainability models for Open Educational Resources: insights from the literature and experts. This study, which supports the call of the OER Recommendation for more research on OER sustainability, ranked the top 10 models as follows:
- public funding;
- internal funding;
- endowments;
- donations;
- OER Networks;
- offering services to learners;
- relying on OER authors;
- community-based model;
- production of OER on demand;
- sponsorship and offering learning-related data to companies.
Dr Tilly Jensen, Professor in Accounting and expert in Digital Learning Technologies at the Faculty of Business, Athabasca University, highlighted the cost savings generated by her students using OER. "If one person can save €2.8 million, what can all educators around the world do,” she stated. Dr Jensen emphasized the importance of having OER champions, who are rewarded and recognized through financial incentives. In this regard, she stressed the need for peer networks for OER assessment, support from higher education institutions' leadership to OER and transparency while advocating for a global paradigm shift to legitimize OER, both top-down and bottom-up.
This webinar is part of a series of knowledge and experience sharing sessions initiated within the framework of the UNESCO OER Dynamic Coalition activities, which aim to support the implementation of the UNESCO OER Recommendation, facilitate networking and create synergies in the different areas of its action.
Background
The UNESCO OER Recommendation is the only normative instrument in the field of technology and education. It identifies five areas for action:
- capacity building to create, access, reuse, adapt and redistribute OER;
- supportive policy;
- inclusive and equitable access to quality OER;
- sustainability models for OER; and
- international cooperation.
The OER Dynamic Coalition was created following the adoption of the UNESCO Recommendation on OER by the 40th session of the UNESCO General Conference in November 2019. The aim of the Dynamic Coalition is to support governments in the implementation of the OER Recommendation by promoting and strengthening international and regional cooperation among all stakeholders in its first four areas.